Door-catch and its locking device.



No. 861,526. PATENTED JULY 30; 1907.

. LITTLE.

DOOR ITS LOCKING DEVICE.

9, 1905. RENEWED DEC. 13, 1906.

-APPLIOATI W/TNESSES: INVENTOR 1 [lit [111 EL i111 E rm/mgr ORTON O. LITTLE, OF MENASI-IA, WISCONSIN.

DOOR-CATCH AND ITS LOCKING- DlilVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 30, 1907.

Application filed July 29, 1905, Serial No. 271,780. Renewed December 13, 1906. Serial No. 347,696-

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ORTON O. LITTLE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Menasha, in the county of Winnebago and State of Wisconsin, have invented a new and useful Improvement in a Door-Catch and its Locking Device, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a catch, one of its engaging members of which is formed of the usual split pin of commerce, the free ends of the opposite leaves of which are bent into an outward curved form for engaging the other member of the catch, and the object of the improvement is to provide a catch adapted for use upon cupboard doors, screen doors, gates, and other swinging parts with which it is unnecessary to make a positive connection with the part to which they are hinged, but with which a push only is required to make a sufficiont connection, and a pull a disconnection of said swinging parts, a locking device being applied to the split pin whenever it is desired to make a positive lock of the catch, the mechanism being shown in the accompanying drawing, in which,

Figure 1 is a plan of a spring pin bent into the form at its free ends, necessary for the engagement of said ends with the catch, an edge view of the latter being shown at the right of the pin. Fig. 2 is an edge view of the split pin, with its attaching screws, and an end view of the catch piece, at its right hand end, with its attaching screw. Fig. 3 shows a part of a door jamb upon which the split pin is shown secured to a plate which is provided with slots so it can be adjusted lengthwise of the pin, the catch piece being secured to apart of a door which is shown as being closed against the jamb, and the spring pin in engagement with the catch piece. Fig. 4 shows a modification in the form of the spring pin from the forms previously shown, the pin being secured to a swinging part and the catch piece to a jamb, said swinging part not being quite closed against the jamb. Fig. 5 is a plan of the catch piece as it is cut from a strip of sheet metal and before it is bent into its final working form. Fig. 6, at the left, is a plan of a locking plate as it is cut from a strip of metal and before it is bent into its working form, the same being shown at the right, bent into form. Fig. 7 shows an edge view of the catch piece, the wings of the devcie being each provided with a friction roller for the more easy engagement of the wings with the ends of the pin.

Similar numerals and letters indicate like parts in the several views.

1, l, and l indicate split pins, which may be formed of fiat, square, or half round wire, the pins being provided with openings 2 and 3 for securing respectively a fastening and a guiding screw, and also oneach leaf of the spring pin, with outwardly curved ends 4, having the inner angular bends 4, said ends of the two leaves extending in a plane at right angles with the plane of the split of the pin, as in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, or being bent in said plane at a right angle, as in Fig. 4, at a point between the opening3 and angular bend, 4. In bending the pin as shown in Fig. 4, its spring is a combination of the spring of the entire length of the leaves, and also, of the twist which occurs to the leaves as the ends 4 enter the opening between the opposite wings of the catch piece.

5, indicates the catch plate which may be cut into the desired form in a stamping press, provided with its central aperture 6, for its securing screw, and bent into the desired form for engaging the outer ends 4 of the spring pin.

In some cases it may be desirable to provide the opposite wings 7 of the catch with rollers, 8, which are mounted for revolution upon the pins 9 of. the wings, as shown, in Fig. 7, The required resiliency of the device being all in the spring pin, the catch member can be made of cast, or other non-elastic material.

In some cases is will be found desirable to attach the pin member to the jamb and the catch member to the door or other swinging part, Fig. 3 showing this arrangement, while in others, the pin can best be attached to the swinging part, and the catch member to the jamb as is shown in Fig. 4.

In attaching the split pin to a door or other part, a screw, 10, is to be inserted through the opening 2 and a screw 11 throu h the opening 3. The pin may be attached to a plate 12 and said plate provided with slots 13 for the longitudinal adjustment of the plate and pin upon the part to which the plate is secured with. screws through the slots, or the pin may be applied directly to the part desired and only a washer, 14, interposed between the pin and wood work, as is shown in Figs. 2 and 4. The screw 10 is to be screwed through the opening 2 to a snug fit. By screwing it in hard, the leaves of the pin can be spread apart and the intensity of the spring thereby increased.

As will be evident, the pin and its catch member as thus far described, can be connected by a push upon the door, or swinging part, and disconnected by a pull upon the handle 15, but it is sometimes desirable to make a positive connection, one that cannot be disconnected simply by a pull. For this purpose, a slide, 16, is provided. It may be cut, punched, and be bent into the proper form from a strip of thin steel, or other resilient material, it being provided with a slot 17, down turned end 18, and side ears 19, up-turned handle 20 and upward swell 21. [t is to be secured through the slot 17, over the pin by means of the screw 1]., the screw head being fitted to bear upon the swell 21 so as to hold the piece at either end of the slot. The down turned end 18 is arranged to fit in between the curved inner sides of the pin, at a point between the opening 3 and angular bends 4, when the piece is at the left hand of its movement, and to hold the leaves of the pin spread open, as shown by the position of the slide by heavy lines in Fig. 3, but when it is moved to the right, as shown by dotted lines, the end 18 being near the widest space between the angles 43 the ends of: said leaves can be sprung together suificiently for allowing their withdrawal from within the wings of the catch member, and allow the door or other swinging part to be opened.

22, indicates a part of a door, or other swinging part and 23, a door jamb.

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is,-

1. The combination in a door catch of two members, one of which consists of oppositely arranged wings, between which a part of the second member is adapted to be inserted, means for securing said wings to one of the parts to beconnected, said second member being formed of a split pin, the closed end of which is provided with an opening adapted for receiving a securing screw, and an opening intermediate its ends for receiving a screw for holding its free ends in a position suitable for their ontrance between the aforesaid wings of the first named member, the outer surface of the free ends of each leaf of said split pin being provided with an outwardly curved part, which, by reason of the resiliency of said leaves are adapted to enter between and to be retained by the wings of the first named member, when the two members are pressed toward each other, and to be separated from each other by pulling the two members apart, substantially as described.

2. The combination in a door catch, of two members, means for securing each member to one of the parts to be connected. one of said members consisting of two oppo sitely arranged wings, between which the outwardly curved free ends of the leaves of a split pin from which the second member is formed are adapted to enter and be retained by said wings when the two members are forced.

toward each other, by reason of the resiliency of the leaves of said split pin, and adapted also to be separated from each other by pulling the two members apart, and means for making a positive lock of the two members, consisting of a sliding piece mounted to slide lengthwise upon said split pin, it having one end bent downward between the leaves of said pin, a part of the inside of each leaf-of the pin being formed at an angle with its central dividing line and said downward bent portion of said sliding piece being arranged to slide from the wider to the narrower space between the leaves of said pin, and thereby prevent the compression of the spring in said leaves sufliciently for allowing the withdrawal of the outwardly curved part of said leaves from between said wings, substantially as described. w

The combination in a door catch, of two members, one of which consists of two oppositely arranged wings between which a part of the second member is adapted to be inserted, means for securing said wings to one of the parts to be connected, the second member being formed of a split pin, the closed end of which is provided with an opening for receiving a securing screw, and also, intermediate the ends of the pin, with an opening for receiving a guiding screw, the outer side near the free ends of each leaf being provided with an outwardly curved part, adapt ed upon the forcing of the two members toward each other to enter and be retained between the aforesaid wings, and being provided also inside of said leaves, between said outward curve and said guiding screw opening, with a space decreasing in width toward said guiding screw opening, a locking device for making the engagement of said two members a positive lock, consisting of a sliding plate having a slot intermediate its ends, one end of said plate being bent downward, a suitable handle at its other end. ears bent downward upon its opposite longitudinal side edges for guiding its movement upon said pin, said plate being adapted to be secured through its slot by means of the guiding screw for said pin, and its down turned end fitted to slide from the wider to the narrower space be' tween said leaves, and thereby lock the catch by preventing the compression of said leaves sufficiently for allowing their withdrawal from between said wings, substantially as set forth.

4. In a door catch formed of oppositely arranged wings for one member and a split pin for the other one, the latter having the free ends of its leaves outwardly curved for engaging with said wings by pressing the members toward each other, and being disengaged therefrom by pulling said members apart, a locking plate therefor, for making the engagement of said members a positive lock, consisting of a plate of spring metal having a slot arranged longitudinally thereof intermediate its ends, a screw for securing it upon said split pin, a down turned end for entering an angular space between the leaves of said pin, a suitable handle for sliding said plate and an upward curve intermediate the ends of said plate for providing a spring under the head of its fastening screw for holding said plate at eitherend of its longitudinal movement, substantially as described.

ORTON C. LITTLE.

Witnesses SILAS BULLARD, E. SnNsnNnaENNnR. 

